“Cheap water is over.” That’s the quote from Queen Creek Utilities Director Mark Skocypec at a recent town meeting. It made it into The Washington Post, which recently profiled the town and some of its residents who are not exactly happy about a new water resource fee being debated in the East Valley town. It’s part of a plan the town has been working on to prepare for a drier future for almost a decade. The idea is to buy water from the Harquahala Valley, pump it out of the ground and transport it via canal to the fast-growing suburb. But it won’t come cheap, hence that quote from Mark Skocypec. The Town Council is voting on the new fee later this month, and I spoke with Skocypec more about Queen Creek’s long-term future water plan and why he thinks they are a model for other cities facing uncertain water futures.

Other water rate and management news:

• KQED (San Francisco): Podcast: Why is water so expensive in California?
• Water Finance & Management: ‘Unprecedented conditions’ force Denver Water to increase rates for 2027